Archive for the 'Rudolf Schenker' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

Having embarked from Prague in March on a farewell tour (dubbed Get Your Sting and Blackout) that is likely to last until at least 2012, maybe 2013, long-running German metal band Scorpions paid a rare but significant visit to Ontario Thursday night, at the not quite 2 years old Citizens Business Bank Arena. The Inland Empire, of course, holds special meaning for the quintet, as it was at the 1983 US Festival in San Bernardino, playing to more than 300,000 fans and millions of television viewers, that veteran members Rudolf Schenker (guitar, above), Klaus Meine (vocals) and Matthias Jabs (guitar) were elevated to bona fide superstar status.

Figuratively packing plenty of Sting in the Tail (incidentally the name of their latest album), the Scorps, who play again Saturday night at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, bounded onto the stage with the title track from that disc, Meine sounding impressive as ever, hitting high and low notes effortlessly. "Bad Boys Running Wild" also lived up to its namesake as Schenker and Jabs ran back and forth across catwalks without missing a note.

The slow-burning chug of "The Zoo" soon gave way to Jabs unleashing a vicious talk-box solo that garnered plenty of cheers from the crowd. Throughout the evening, the group spread out all across the stage, interacting with as many fans as possible, guaranteeing that everyone had a memorable night. After the instrumental "Coast to Coast", "Loving You Sunday Morning" continued to keep the energy level at maximum.

All Scorpions concerts have their share of crowd participation, and "The Best Is Yet To Come" had plenty of people following Meine's lead and singing along. While I was hoping for "Winds of Change," "Send Me an Angel" was nonetheless a pleasant surprise. The other power ballad of the evening was "Holiday," which gave me flashbacks to listening to my worn-out cassette of 1985's World Wide Live.

"Dynamite" was explosive with its hard-driving beat and blazing guitar acrobatics from Schenker and Jabs. Drummer James Kottak momentarily had his time in the spotlight for a protracted drum solo, but at least it gave the rest of the group time to recharge. Emulating the look of the Blackout cover from 1982, Schenker stormed the stage again with his Gibson Flying V for that seminal album's title track.